A 24-year-old is facing homicide and manslaughter charges after he fled a traffic stop in Crown Heights in March, before crashing into a man who died shortly afterwards.
According to police, Elijah Lucaine was driving his Infiniti Q50 on March 13 when cops attempted to pull him over near Eastern Parkway and Bergen Street at 6:34 p.m. Instead of complying, the 24-year-old allegedly sped off — disobeying multiple traffic laws during his getaway.
About 2.5 miles later, Lucaine struck an Acura RDX being driven by 56-year-old David Brian Ellis at the intersection of Crown Street and Nostrand Avenue.
The impact of the collision redirected both the Infiniti and the Acura, causing both vehicles to strike a 2008 BMW X5 that was parked and unattended, according to authorities. The BMW was then pushed forward, causing it to strike a 2011 Mercedes Benz van that was also parked and unattended at the location.
Surveillance footage of the incident shows an NYPD cruiser coming into the frame moments after the Infiniti and Acura collided, however, an NYPD spokesperson claimed that cops had not been in pursuit of Lucaine at the time of the collision.
Paramedics arrived on the scene and rushed both Elijah and Ellis to Kings County Hospital for treatment, with both men being classified as in “stable condition.”
Two days later, though, while still hospitalized, Ellis suffered a “medical episode” and died.
Cops originally charged Lucaine with reckless endangerment, reckless driving, operating a vehicle without insurance, number plate violation, and failure to obey traffic signals — leaving any further accusatory decisions to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
On June 12, he was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court, where the DA’s office charged him with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and a host of other infractions.
